Writer Wednesday

So, you’ve just had the last “original” Happiness Is… From June I’ll restart from the first, that went live in October 2009, when I had no followers at all. The vignettes will probably be quite new to you all, and by the time I post again all 135 of them, I might have a few more to add – and almost three years will be gone by, LOL! Where did the time go?

Hope you had all a great weekend. I’m currently rewriting CVE4 and had to stop and re-read before continuing (I wrote it back in 1993, typed it sometime in 2004 and haven’t read it since). I took out three chapters that were too episodic and didn’t really move the story forward (one was actually based on a dream… and I had to take it out… I’m not Dustin, see? ;-)) and then had to combine chapters of the last third – that used to be the first story I wrote in English then translated into Italian in 1996 – because they were too short compared to the rest. As it couldn’t stand on its own and it still deals with the same characters seven years later, I added it to the rest.

Also, CVE3 (a.k.a. Lost&Oliver) I had it printed out and gave it to read to a friend and the shrink I saw at the time. Heck, I even submitted to a trad publisher that specialized in fantasy, and who replied they didn’t take unagented submission – now, there are no agents in Italy, except the ones that deal with rights of foreign writers, so how’s that for twisted? ;-) Anyway, I had a couple of people read it. But CVE4? Nobody read it. So here I am 20 years later finding holes in my plot and useless, meandering chapters, LOL!

I’ve heard from all the betas and editors in the meantime (that was fast, thanks, all!) and ended up discussing changes with a couple of them. Originally I had thought it episodic because I dreamed to see it drawn by Rosinski as a French BD (comic) – Oliver does look like a beardless Thorgal after all – so that’s why it reads like a collection of short stories. But I love the story and the characters, so I’ll make it a real novel – and if some deleted chapters can stand on their own, I’ll add them to the Records of the Varian Empire.

And it’s going to be one book (CVE3+4), so as soon as I finish the second part, I’ll re-outline it all, tighten it and rewrite. Glad I found some input to tame my episodic writing! :-) And glad I found the courage to withdraw it from publication next month and wait until I’m happy with it. So the next Silvery Earth novel will probably be out in August instead of June, but it will be better that what I originally had. I probably need a new title as well, but I’ll brainstorm with beta&editors…

You might have heard, but the Taleist Survey results are now available on Amazon. I’m not sure I recognize myself in the lot, but I’m glad I participated. Next year’s version I’ll have more data to share, LOL! Speaking of surveys, here’s one for UK authors – like Dean says, (this is) information that should scare the hell out of traditional publishers.

Joe Konrath about traditional book contracts – yikes, run for the hills! But like Nathan Bransford says – traditional vs. self-publishing is a false dichotomy. Personally, I don’t think I’ll go near a traditional publisher anytime this year, but I can’t speak for the future. I’m getting used to the fact that I work better alone, and have given up the hope of finding the perfect team (and I badly need a better artist than myself for my graphic novels, sigh. Those temperamental artists drive me crazy! ;-)).

I’ll close this post with my brainstorm on moleskine about the next CVE. See how a very secondary character jumped out to say he wanted me to tell his story? Sorry, pal, wait in line! I just love when I make connections between books, though, LOL! *spoiler alert* – click to enlarge image at own risk! :-)

2 Comments

Tee-hee! I knew you’d comment on that! :-D
But then, I’m an artist too, so I’m temperamental, so I know what I’m saying, LOL!
By the way, wanna draw some comics? ;-)

My name is Barb, and I'm a writer, sometimes an artist, mostly a world-creator and storyteller of fantasy worlds. I have more than one pen-name and write in more than one genre.
I blog about life, the universe... OK, you can guess I'm a writer, but not Douglas Adams, so I'll leave the Hitchhiker's Guide aside. And no, I'm not going to spam you by only rambling about my books - if you're interested, just go to the dedicated pages, thank you.
This is my blog, about the "creative barbwire" that I am - there's no rose without thorns, right?
Enjoy...